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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. spring — of water
  3. court — for sport
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. scale — in music
  6. march — the month
  7. rest — what's left
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. land — to come down
  10. spring — the season
  11. march — the month
  12. branch — a division
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. rest — a break
  16. rest — what's left
  17. scale — size or range
  18. court — of a king
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. land — a country
  21. land — ground
  22. march — music
  23. court — of law
  24. pitcher — a jug

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com